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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30050955">How Wonderful Life is While You're in the World</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchapockii/pseuds/matchapockii'>matchapockii</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Minor Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Reader and Bertolt are good friends, Reader is a musician, Reader-Insert, Reiner Braun Needs a Hug, Slow Burn, Takes place at an arts university, gender neutral reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:49:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,695</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30050955</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchapockii/pseuds/matchapockii</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey, we're here"</p>
<p>You feel a hand on your shoulder lightly shake you awake, a soft melody flowing through your ears. You slowly open your eyes and take a minute to adjust to the light around. The city lights were bright and it was definitely not something you were quite used to yet.</p>
<p>Aka the fic where you are an aspiring young vocal performer who moves to a new continent to attend one of the best Art Schools around and meets an array of different characters. Summaries aren't my strong suit and this is my first time writing something other than a one-shot, but nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy!!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Reiner Braun/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: New Beginnings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hey, we're here"</p><p>You feel a hand on your shoulder lightly shake you awake, a soft melody flowing through your ears. You slowly open your eyes and take a minute to adjust to the light around. The city lights were bright and it was definitely not something you were quite used to yet, seeing as you only arrived there last night. Looking up, you see your dad looking at you with a soft smile on his face.</p><p>"C'mon hun, we gotta go" You hear your dad's voice ring out, though slightly muffled from the sound of music. You watch as he gives a nervous look to the taxi driver who was obviously pretty annoyed that you hadn't left his car yet. You nod your head and finally remove the headphones from your ears that you had fallen asleep in. "Yeah okay, let's go," You say before opening up the door and sliding out</p><p>Once out, the cool autumn air hits you all at once. You smile slightly before stretching out your arms above your head. You hear the other door on the opposite side shut as your dad gets out of the taxi and heads to the trunk. You shoo your dad's hands away as he goes to grab your luggage, pulling it out yourself. "I've got it, dad, don't worry," You say to him, setting your suitcase on the ground and adjusting your backpack onto your shoulders.</p><p>When you glance back at him, he's giving you a look you could only assume was one of pride. He walked over to you and ruffled your hair. "How'd you grow up so quickly?" He questions, but the only answer you can give him is a half-hearted shrug and a smile. He returns the smile and places a hand on your shoulder, gesturing you to start walking, as the taxi drives away behind you.</p><p>The two of you walk in content silence as you approach the large campus building in front of you. It was a lively place, people walking around in the front yard, some students, some professors. People were flowing in and out of the front doors. The glass seemed to shine in the bright early sun. To put it frankly, it was probably one of the nicest buildings you had seen in a while. Though that didn't come as much of a surprise to you, you had come to learn through your brief drive through that the city was filled with gorgeous buildings. </p><p>Your dad is the first to break the silence as he takes a look at his watch and lets out a huff. " Shoot sorry kiddo, I have to go. If I don't hurry I'll be late to meet your mum at the airport" He explains. You grin and pull him into a hug." It's okay dad, I've got it from here." He pulls back from the hug and squeezes your shoulders." I know you do. I love you" He says." I love you too!" You shout back as he starts to walk away and you continue towards the school.</p><p>It wasn't a complete lie. You knew where to go and all, but you couldn't help but feel your nerves spike as you were left alone. Walking up the steps to the glass doors, you did your best to try and calm your nerves. Taking a deep breath in, you pushed the doors forward as you exhaled, walking into the building.</p><p>The first thing you noticed when you walked in was the noises. There was a loud and distinct chatter coming from the students walking the halls. A quiet stream of music could be heard over the top of them, coming from the speakers that were up in the corners of the halls. You dragged your suitcase behind you as you walked up to what you were hoping was the front desk, peering over the counter to see an older lady sitting in a chair.</p><p>When she failed to take notice of your presence, you cleared your throat loudly. She seemed to catch on then as a startled look went across her face, looking up at you. The startled look faded away to a nicer one, a soft smile finding its way onto her lips." Hello dear, how can I help you?" Her voice was silvery, and her kind demeanor brought a smile to your face." I have an appointment with the dean? I'm new to the school and he said there would be someone to show me around." You explained quickly.</p><p>The lady let out a quick 'oh!' before the sounds of typing filled the air. "Y/n L/n?" She asked, glancing up at you. You nod your head before she gets up and walks to a door just farther down from where her desk was. You watch as she knocks on the door and exchanges a few words with the person inside, though you couldn't make out the details. She walks back towards you and leans over the desk a little." He's ready for you now, just back there" You follow her finger as it points back to the same door she had come from. You leave her with a small thank you, before grabbing onto your suitcase again and walking to the door.</p><p>Walking into the office, you notice just how large it actually was. A desk was seated at the back of it, with two brown chairs sitting in front. In the middle of the room was what looked like a coffee table and two couches seated on either side of it. Along the walls of the room, there were multiple shelves filled with different certificates, trophies, and what you assumed was paperwork. Seated on the black chair behind the desk, was a tall man. He wore a simple navy blue suit, a black and matching blue tie around his neck. He looked up from whatever he was writing down quickly and hummed.</p><p>"L/n I presume?" He askes in a relaxed tone, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of the desk. As you walk up to take a seat, you notice another blonde sitting next to you, her long hair falling delicately around her shoulders. As you took a seat, the man in front of you spoke up again. "Hello, it's wonderful to meet you, I'm Mr. Smith" He introduced himself, and extended a hand out in front of him. "Y/n L/n." You shake his hand and push the embarrassment from your head. 'He already knows your name dumbass'. He sat back in his chair a little folding his hands in his lap. </p><p>"With that out of the way, first off I'd like to welcome you here, I hope our campus and facility find you well" He stated. He handed you a few sheets of paper. "This will have all of the things you need to get started including your dorm number and your class schedule." He finished with a warm smile. You took the papers from him and shuffled through them quickly. "Historia here will be giving you a tour of the campus"</p><p>He gestured to the woman sitting beside you. You finally turn to her and she greets you with a smile. "It's nice to meet you!" She cheers in a light voice. You give a small and polite wave, watching as she stands up. You follow suit and watch as Mr. Smith stands up with you. As he rises from the chair you realize just how tall he actually was. He walks the two of you to the door of his office, opening it and walking out. "Have a good day you two. And L/n if you need anything from me, my doors are always open" He says with one final warm grin, before letting the door close and heading back to his seat.</p><p>You and Historia walk in silence for a few minutes, she confidently leads the way as you trail behind her like a lost puppy. It's while you are leaving the main building does she breaks the silence. "Alright, I'll show you to where some of your classes will be, some of the general areas for everyone, and then to your dorm okay?" She asks, well more like explains to you, a patient look on her face. "Sounds good" You respond. She then turns on her heel and starts walking, once again leaving you to quickly follow behind her. 'She must have been here for a while now, she's so quick' you think to yourself</p><p>Historia makes quick work taking you from building to building show you different parts of the university. She showed you where the library is and the cafeteria. Both very impressive in both size and design. As you walked many people waved or even stopped to great Historia, and you quickly learned how well known she must be. She paused for a minute as she began to show you the lecture halls. "You are a vocal major here yes?" She questioned. "Yes, I am" You answered." Good to know, your classes should just be up here."</p><p>She leads you down a few different hallways in the new building and music is traveling through the air. As you walk you catch glimpses into different rooms, many of which have either instrumentalists or vocalists practicing in them. Your face begins to light up at the thought of doing what you love almost every day. You stop in front of one room, which is currently empty." Your practical classes won't start till tomorrow, but this is where you'll be!" She chirps. "And from there, someone will be able to direct you to your composition classes" You shuddered slightly at that thought. As much as you loved music, the theory portion was not your strong suit.</p><p>The tour came to a close as Historia walked you to the dorm buildings, just a bit off of campus. You were in the second building which was the farthest of the two. It was a little nerve-wracking knowing you would have to try and navigate your way back the next day but you tried your best to keep positive. You were slightly relieved to find that you were on the first floor though, thinking that it would be way too tricky to deal with the rest of the building. Historia walked you to the end of the far hallway and turned to a door on the left, knocking three times. "Sasha? You in there?"</p><p>A few crashes can be heard from behind the door and the running of footsteps gets louder as someone approaches the door. Said door is promptly thrown open, a brunette standing in its opening. She's wearing grey sweatpants and a maroon t-shirt that hangs loosely on her frame." Heyy Historia! Oh and the newbie" She says turning her attention to you. She pulls you in for a rough hug, making you drop your suitcase in the process. As you try your best to grasp what was going on stuck under this girl's arm, you hear someone from the front desk yell at the three of you to be quiet.</p><p>Sasha lets you go and turns to the front desk, waving at them." Sorry about that!" She calls over, as you rub the back of your neck trying to soothe the dull pain from the aggressive hug. Turning back to Historia, you watch as Sasha's face falls at the girl's unimpressed look." Well... if you too are finished then, I'll leave you to spend the rest of the day settling in" She says rather pointedly. Historia places a hand on your shoulder and gives you one final grin." It was nice meeting you Y/n." And with that, she walked off and out of the building.</p><p>Sasha moves out of the way and allows you to walk into your shared dorm. You knew when moving here that you wouldn't be able to afford a place on your own and that you would end up having to have a roommate. You just didn't expect them to be this... excitable. However, you didn't let that shake your good mood. You walked around a bit, familiarizing yourself with the room before you found an empty bed that Sasha informed you, would be yours. It was a twin-sized mattress, but you weren't complaining. It looked comfy enough.</p><p>Looking around the area there was a small closet which you placed your suitcase next to, and set your backpack onto the bed, taking a seat on it. You figured you could get around to unpacking later, right now you just wanted to relax for a minute. You grabbed your backpack and pulled out the framed photo of your family that you had, placing it on the nightstand. ' There' You thought to yourself with a small grin. "Hey, newbie, want something to eat?" A voice from behind you caught your attention, turning to the door you saw Sasha resting against the door frame.</p><p>You let out a small chuckle." God yes, I'm starving" You said, standing up. A light flashed across Sasha's face as she let out a laugh. "Good! C'mon, let me show you what we have" She said excitedly, rushing out of the room. You shook your head playfully to yourself. You were gonna enjoy it here, you could just feel it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ahhh okay, the first chapter is done! More will be out soon, I have a good chunk of chapters plan out so I'm hoping updates won't be too slow :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2: First Things First</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>'shit  shit sHIT SHIT'</p><p>That was the only thought that could go through your mind as you scrambled to get your clothes on. 'Of course, I'd get up late on my first day!' You cursed at yourself. You stopped for a brief moment in the bathroom you and Sasha shared. There were hairbrushes and hair ties and various other toiletries strewn across the sink and cabinets. You made a mental note to have a chat with your roommate about picking up after herself.</p><p>Not that you could really complain though. She was a lively sort, friendly as well. And it was certainly helping to have such a kind person to be staying within a new country. You shook yourself from your thoughts and dashed out of the bathroom. You grabbed a quick snack from the fridge, an apple, before running out the door. You got a little way down the hall before realizing you had forgotten to lock the door and begrudgingly ran back to fix your mistake.</p><p>Making your way out of the dorm building, you brought yourself to a halt. "Now... was it left or right from here?" You pondered aloud to yourself. Although Historia had just shown you around a mere two days ago, you hadn't got much time to get out and familiarize yourself with the route yet. Sasha kept you busy all weekend from helping you unpack to going to pick up some new furniture, now that she could afford it with the help of another person.</p><p>You began making your way towards the cluster of buildings that you were almost sure were the same ones that Historia had told you your lecture halls would be in. It was your best guess. And seeing as this was your first time at the school, you hoped that your professor would be a bit nicer to you. It had completely passed your mind to ask Historia on the tour she gave you if she had any knowledge on the people teaching the courses you'd be in.' Oh well,' you thought.' It'll be an interesting surprise.</p><p>Approaching the doors to the first building you let out a small sigh of relief when you heard the calming sounds of students practicing. Well, it was as calming as it could be. The sharp tone of a wrong note could be clearly heard in contrast to the otherwise beautiful melodies. It wasn't very often, but it didn't come as much of a shock to you. It was to be expected, after all, top school or not it was still a place of learning.</p><p>The stress of not being able to find the right building slowly started to melt away only to be replaced by a new line of thought. The class itself. You loved music, but were you really strong enough in your skills to pursue it? These thoughts unfortunately plagued your mind as you spotted the door Historia had pointed out to you. A light chatter could be heard inside, and peaking around the door you saw the once empty room, now littered with students. The change in energy was a little soothing but not enough to calm your mind.</p><p>You walked into the room fully and pulled your bag a bit closer to you. You didn't know what you were expected to bring so you stuck with the basics and hoped it would be enough. Your hands found their way into each other and you began wringing them together. It didn't take long for it to turn into itching and picking. It was a bad habit you had been trying to break but with all of the anxiety you were feeling, you didn't know what else to soothe yourself with.</p><p>Your eyes scanned the room. There were rows of chairs that formed a semi-circle on the one side of the room, and a stage on the other side, creating sort of a curved appearance to the room. A grand piano sat off-center on the stage, a matching stool tucked under it. You headed towards the seats, keeping your head down. You found a nice empty space on the far right corner, close enough to where you guessed the prof would be teaching from but far enough away from any of the rowdier kids.</p><p>Taking a seat you placed your bag down beside you and got comfortable in your chair. Well, as comfortable as you could get. The chairs were soft, it was simply your nerves keeping you at bay. You were so caught up in trying to calm yourself, you missed the sound of footsteps walking up beside you. It wasn't till a voice called out to you, that you were pulled out of your daze. "Hey, is this seat taken?"</p><p>Looking up, your eyes were met with an almost equally stressed face, that was dotted with freckles. A man stood before you, his one arm wrapped around the other, gripping onto his sleeve. He wore a blue hoodie with some sort of writing on it, that you couldn't make out as it was covered by a black jacket. His overall demeanor was seemingly friendly albeit rather nervous. He stood there, the same awkward smile gracing his face as his eyes darted around the room, waiting for your response.</p><p>It took you a moment to realize that this man, was in fact talking to you, but when you did you quickly waved a hand in front of your face." Oh! No, sorry, I mean no it's not taken" You let out, the waver in your voice making you internally cringe. The man's smile turned to that of a reassuring one as he placed his bag down next to yours and took a seat. The two of you sat there for a moment, the silence insufferable. Taking a breath you figured no matter what was gonna leave your mouth next was better than the silence.</p><p>"Hey uh, I'm Y/n," You said, turning to face the man. He gave you a slightly startled look, figuring that your brief interactions were over, and glanced down at your outstretched hand. "Marco, thanks for letting me sit" He responded, grabbing your hand lightly and shaking it a few times. You gave a grin and found a sort of peace in the stranger. Seeing someone equal, if not more nervous than you helped. It was nice knowing you weren't alone in all of this. You opened your mouth to start up a conversation with Marco when an unusually loud bang came from the front of the room.</p><p>"Hello, my dears!" You watched as the door was pushed open excitedly, hitting the wall with a clang. A confused feeling filled you, as the person who the voice belonged to walked into the room. They were wearing a deep blue button-up, an undone tie wrapped around their neck, and red dress pants. Surely, this wasn't a professor, sure they looked the part but their energy was much different than you'd expect from the faculty. Still, as an anticipating hush fell over the room, you couldn't help but feel a spark of curiosity within yourself.</p><p>As the initial shock from such an entrance began to wear down, you noticed the books this person was holding. You also took note of a laptop bag that was thrown over their one shoulder with a bunch of papers almost spilling out of it. They walked to a desk at the back of the stage, placing their belongings down and taking a step back, their hands coming to rest on their hips. With a spin and a flourish of their hands, they were back to face the rest of you, walking up to the front of the class.</p><p>"Good morning everyone, how are we feeling today?" They asked, in the same cheerful way.' It's way too early for anyone to be that awake,' you thought to yourself. A few weak good mornings came from some students in an attempt to match the energy of your professor. They let out a dry chuckle and waved off the students silencing the room once again. "For those who don't know, I am Professor Zoe, and I'll be stuck with you lot for this year!" They explained, their arms swinging around as they talked. A few students snickered at the behavior but most seemed to get excited at the prospect of having such a professor for the year.</p><p>They casually grabbed an empty chair from the front of the class and pulled it up underneath them, taking a seat. They continued to introduce themself, explaining what the course was going to look like and answering any questions that people had. There was a confident air about them and despite their laid-back personality, they seemed to draw respect from everyone around them. It was admirable really, and you even felt yourself leaning into what they had to say. They were a bit hard to follow, sometimes going off on small tangents but it didn't bother you as much as you thought it would. It was welcoming really and finally started to soothe your nerves.</p><p>Your hands dropped to your side, a dull pain throbbing through them as tried not to let anyone see the red scratches that covered them. You lightly cursed yourself out, telling yourself you should have known better. You'd probably have to have a proper look at them but that could wait till after class. You tuned back into the conversation just as Professor Zoe stood up, explaining that you all would be going over some vocal warm-ups.</p><p>It wasn't anything new to you, you were used to the standard vocal warm-ups. While music had been in your life for what felt like forever, you didn't start taking it too seriously until high school. Either way, it brought a small smile to your face as Zoe went to their desk to grab a speaker, connecting it to their phone. You turned to Marco as the class waited patiently." Excited?" You asked, wondering how he was feeling in all of this. He looked over at you and gave you a nod, fiddling with the strap on his bag."Yeah, I am actually, it's been a while. I took a null year before coming here, so it'll be nice to be doing something I enjoy again." He explained with a peaceful look on his face.</p><p>His response brought you a certain warmth, you were happy for him. You felt practical the same way, although you had arrived here right after high school. "You?" He asked, now giving you his full attention." Me? Definitely, it's what I love you know? How could I not be excited." You responded. You watched as his face broke out into a smile, leaving one upon your face in return. </p><p>After getting everything set up, Professor Zoe called for everyone to stand up, and hit a button on their phone. The beginning notes of a familiar scale started playing through the room, it was one you had heard before. They ran the group through a bunch of different warm-ups, a few basics, and some that you had never heard of before. It honestly wouldn't have surprised you much if you found out that Zoe had come up with it themselves. It was nice to be using your voice again.</p><p>After warm-ups, you grabbed your water bottle and took a few sips, the cool water soothing your somewhat dry throat. It was only to be expected seeing that it wasn't even the afternoon yet and your throat was still a little rusty. You were about to take a seat when the chatter of the class was cut over by your professor. "Alright, dears, to kick off our first class I'd like to see what all of you got!" A cool sensation ran through your body at their words. Performances? Already? As much as you loved singing, you had just briefly met these people.</p><p>You quickly realized that you weren't getting out of this, so you took a few breathes to try and prepare yourself. You grabbed your phone from your pocket and started going over your music trying to select a good song." Nothing too upbeat but also I don't want to drag down the mood of the class" You mused to yourself. "I need something that'll show off my range but I shouldn't push it too much in the morning." Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Marco pacing. "What are you doing?" He chimed, stopping for a brief moment. </p><p>"I need to know what I'm doing ahead of time. I need a plan or I'll get too nervous" You told him, breaking away from his gaze to go back and scroll through your phone." Hm. Smart." Was the last thing that you heard from him before he walked away. You assumed he had a similar idea in mind, but that didn't concern you much. You had found just the song you were looking for.</p><p>Slowly but surely one by one, each student got up and had about a minute or two for their song. It was nice getting to hear everyone individually, and they all got well-deserved applause afterward. Marco was the fifth to go and you watched as he made his way to the front of the class. When the music started to fill the room, it was clear to see how comfortable he seemed on stage. His voice was surprisingly orotund, a stark contrast to the man you were speaking with moments before. It was easy to say you were happily surprised when he finished.</p><p>You were up next. You took one last gulp of your water and walked up to the front, flashing Marco a smile and thumbs up as he went back to his seat. You plugged your phone in and took your spot in the middle of the stage, giving a small nod to Professor Zoe to start the music. The beginning notes of Back to Black started flowing into the room, and you began to tap your thigh gently to keep beat. You glanced at Marco for some stability and began to sing.</p><p>You knew your voice well, and hearing it swell throughout the room brought a small sense of pride to you. A lot hit you all at once, you had made it to this university, you actually did it. And somewhere deep inside you told you that you deserved it. That simple thought was enough to push you to the end of the first chorus when the music started dying out. You stood there for a few seconds before the class gave you their round of applause. You gave everyone a smile and hurried back to your seat, this newfound excitement for the class blooming in your stomach.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 2! I hope yall enjoyed it. I probably should have mentioned earlier but Hange will be using they/them pronouns in this story. Oh, and in case you have no idea what song I used in this chapter the full title is Back To Black by Amy Winehouse. It's really good and I recommend giving it a listen. Anyways, that'll be all for now, till next time!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ahhh okay, the first chapter is done! More will be out soon, I have a good chunk of chapters plan out so I'm hoping updates won't be too slow :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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